Chapter 18
907 Words
It was just another perfectly ordinary afternoon in the coffee shop. Li Han was at his post—standing, leaning, then slumping further into the counter depending on how bored he became every passing minute.
There weren’t many customers at this hour, which meant he was free to lounge, stare at the ceiling, and wonder whether he could get away with eating a cookie behind the espresso machine.
The bell on the door jingled, and instinct kicked in.
Li Han jolted upright and stretched his lips into something that looked suspiciously like a smile—more teeth than joy, less warmth than intimidation.
“Welcome, what would you like to order?”
“Oh, shūdāizi, don’t pretend you don’t know me.”
Liu Yifei’s familiar scowl greeted him like a slap made of pure attitude.
Li Han blinked, refused to react, and waited patiently for her order as if she were a total stranger.
Liu Yifei pressed a dramatic hand to her chest.
“You heartless ape! Even after all the love I have poured into you, you didn't even visit me or ask how I was doing!” She pouted so deeply her lips could have tripped someone passing by.
Two customers seated near the counter raised their eyebrows at the scene before quietly deciding minding their business was safer.
“Welcome. What would you like to order?” Li Han repeated, plastering on an even uglier customer-service smile.
Liu Yifei glared at him like he had personally betrayed her ancestors but gave in and ordered. Once she received her drink, she immediately turned to one of his coworkers and asked in a sugary voice,
“Is it okay if I borrow him for a moment?”
Which was how Li Han—against all natural laws and personal wishes—ended up sitting across from Liu Yifei at a corner table.
She took a satisfied sip of her iced drink, crossed her legs, and leaned forward.
“Shūdāizi, I am so sorry I can’t sit beside you. My boyfriend will get jealous,” she emphasized, stretching the word boyfriend as if she was announcing a royal decree.
Li Han rolled his eyes so hard he nearly saw his own brain.
“Is that what you called me over for? To tell me you’ve gotten a boyfriend?”
“Yes. And no.” She shrugged. “Also, I missed you. And we need to catch up. It’s important.”
Apparently, her definition of catching up meant interrogating him like an undercover spy. She wanted—no, demanded—details about the twins. Because apparently Yo Han and Yo Sun had scared her off the last time she got too close, hovering behind Li Han like two trained guard dogs, ready to bite.
Li Han tried to dodge the topic, but the moment she threatened to bark like a real dog inside the café, in broad daylight, he immediately believed she would.
He could practically see her dropping to all fours.
So he caved.
He told her the truth—well, his version of the truth—that there was nothing going on between him and the twins. Nothing at all. Absolutely nothing. Just a little… incident but he made sure to exclude that last part.
Once Liu Yifei was satisfied—hair flicked, curiosity fed—she strutted off like a peacock, and Li Han shuffled back behind the counter with the heaviness of a man who had consumed emotional caffeine he hadn’t ordered.
The next day, fate decided to be chaotic again. Li Han did not even make it through the school gate before he was lifted clean off the floor. One moment he was walking peacefully with his backpack; the next he was dangling mid-air like a prize fish.
Warm lips peppered kisses all over his cheeks, and a few sneaky, forbidden, shame-inducing landed near his lips.
“Fu Fu! We missed you so much!”
“Why did you run away from us?”
“Was it because of what happened?”
Each question came with another kiss, and each kiss made Li Han’s face heat like a kettle about to burst. His skin turned from pale to rose to full tomato red within seconds, and the twins found it delightful, like discovering a new toy feature. They kissed him again like proud scientists testing their experiment.
“H-Hey! Stop that and put me down! People are staring!”
Li Han hissed, frantically covering his face. The twins looking smug and unbothered gently set him back on the ground. Before stepping away, Yo Sun leaned down and whispered in his ear, voice warm enough to melt steel.
“I know you might regret what happened… but we don’t. And I still want my turn.”
Li Han froze.
His brain blue-screened.
Somewhere inside, alarm bells rang, and he was certain his nose was bleeding, or it wanted to.
Meanwhile, the twins just beamed like they had won the lottery.
He tried to slink toward class, but the twins clung to him like affectionate barnacles—one on each side, arms looped around him like they owned him.
People walking through the hallway reacted the same way the crowd at the cinema had—wide eyes, whispers, speculative looks, some jealousy sprinkled in. After only thirty seconds Li Han pinpointed the cause:
their hands.
“Take your hands away from under my shirt.”
- Writer
